OPENING DRAW The University of Minnesota Duluth is headed to the NCAA Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Bulldogs are hot off of the NCAA Hockey Tournament's longest game that has ever taken place at 5 OT's over the University of North Dakota. UMD is set to take on the University of Massachusetts in the Frozen Four Semifinal on April 8, 2021 at 8 PM. This is the fourth consecutive Frozen Four the Bulldogs have been to, a feat no other team has accomplished since UND did it back from 2005-08. The championship game will take place on April 10, 2021 at 6 PM.

UMASS AT A GLANCE The Minutemen have had a solid year overall this season. Aside from making the Frozen Four for the second consecutive year (the 2019-20 season had no NCAA Championships), UMass won the Hockey East Tournament for the first time, placed third in the regular season standings and beat both Lake Superior State (WCHA Champions, 5-1) and Bemidji State (4-0) in the NCAA Bridgeport Regional. They are seeded as the No. 1 seed in the Frozen Four and carry an 18-5-4 record overall on the year. Coming into this matchup, UMass is riding a five game win streak.
Leading the way in points this season for the Minutemen is forward Bobby Trivigno. In 27 games played this season, Trivigno has 31 points (10g, 21a). He is one of only two double-digit goal scores on the team this year and one of 11 players to eclipse 10 points on the year, (the only one to reach 30). His 31 points ranks in a four way tie for 11th in the NCAA and is in 11th in the NCAA in points per game (1.15).
The other double-digit goal scorer? Forward Carson Gicewicz. Gicewicz has potted a total of 17 goals on the year, just fourth in the NCAA. He's dished out a total of seven assists and has 24 points on the year. He's scored five on the man advantage (T-13th in NCAA) and has just two game winners. He's taken just 60 shots on goal for the year (averaging 2.22 per game), giving him a 28.3 shooting percentage, second in the NCAA. He also has 22 blocked shots on the year, sitting in T-22nd in the NCAA.
The Minutemen have a solid goaltending duo in junior Filip Lindberg and senior Matt Murray. Filip Lindberg is the current leader in the NCAA in save percentage sitting with a .946 and leads the nation in goals against with a 1.33 average. He's played in 14 of the teams 27 games thus far on the season and has played the teams last 12 games, going 9-0-3. He carries a 9-1-4 record on the season.He's given up just 19 goals on the year and has four shutouts. The other half, Matt Murray, has had a pretty solid year himself. Murray has played in the other 13 games this season and carries a .913 save percentage with a 2.01 goals against average. He is 9-4-0 on the season and given up 24 goals on the year with three shutouts.
The bench boss for UMass and in his 10th season overall as a head coach is Greg Carvel. Carvel carries a 92-75-10 record  while with the Minutemen and is 178-157-28 overall.

LAST TIME OUT The Bulldogs won their fourth straight regional title this past weekend, beating National Collegeiate Hockey Conference rival UND nonetheless, in the NCAA Tournaments longest game ever to take place. It took five overtimes (or 142:13 minutes to be exact) to finally get a winner, with that being freshman forward Luke Mylymok being the hero.
UMD scored first. Junior defenseman Hunter Lellig was on the blueline and ripped a shot towards the net where junior forward Jackson Cates was able to get a stick on it and put top shelf past Scheel 3:21 into the third period. Junior forward Cole Koepke joined in on the fun just over a minute later. He broke free of UND's defenseman and found himself on a breakaway, picking the top shelf with a rip of a shot at 4:38 of the final period. The Fighting Hawks pushed back the rest of the period and finally broke the shutout with an extra man with 1:39 to go. Forward Adam Collins threw the puck at the back of Stejskal while below the goal line and banked it in. UND tied things at two a side with 55.5 seconds left from forward Jordan Kawaguci, forcing overtime.
Senior forward Kobe Roth appeared to have put the game winner in off of a rebound at 7:38 of the extra frame, but the goal was called back due to offsides.
Freshman forward Luke Mylymok was the hero tonight. He brought the puck into UND's zone and used a defenseman as a screen. He ripped a shot that went through Scheel's five hole at 2:13 of the fifth overtime.

MORE FOR THE MANTLE The Bulldogs had a solid year this season, claiming six NCHC Player of the Week awards. UMD also had 15 Bulldogs named the NCHC All-Academic team this year and six honored as NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes.
A quartet of Bulldogs landed on the All-NCHC teams. Senior forward Nick Swaney made it on to the All-NCHC first team this season. Junior forward Noah Cates landed on the All-NCHC second team and junior forward Cole Koepke and freshman defenseman Wyatt Kaiser each were namded as All-NCHC honorable mention. Kaiser also landed himself on the NCHC All-Rookie squad.
Three players were named to the NCAA Fargo Regional All-Tournament team. Freshman goalie Zach Stejskal had an outstanding game against UND, making 57 saves in the contest. Freshman forward Luke Mylymok netted the game winner in the final, and junior defenseman Hunter Lellig had an assist and was a +2 on the night.
THE RIVALRY These two teams have seen each other only one other time in their histories, and boy was that a big game. UMD and UMass last met in the 2019 NCAA Men's Hockey Championship game, where the Bulldogs beat the Minutemen by a score of 3-0. Of the UMD players that are on the current team, nine of them were in that game (seniors Matt Anderson, Louie Roehl, Kobe Roth and Nick Swaney and juniors Tanner Laderoute, Cole Koepke, Jesse Jacques, Jackson Cates and Noah Cates). Jackson Cates scored a goal in the game. Laderoute grabbed an assist in the game as well. Swaney led the team in shots with four in the game, with Koepke and N. Cates taken three shots a piece.
There are multiple UMass players that are still on the squad that played in that game, including goalie Filip Lindberg. Lindberg made 28 saves in the contest, seeing 31 shots on the day.

GOALS? WE LIKE GOALS The Bulldogs have one of the top returning rosters in terms of goals. UMD is coming back with the fourth most goals on their roster with 90, with Bowling Green (96) sitting atop the charts, and North Dakota (96) right there with them and the University of Minnesota (93) just behind them. UMD returns seven of their top-10 from last season, with junior forward Cole Koepke being the majority holder with 16, and junior forward Noah Cates following with 14. The Bulldogs are 15th in the NCAA in both goals (79) and total points (213).
UMD is the 15th best scoring team in the nation, scoring 82 on the season. The Bulldogs are also 15th in the NCAA in total points, totaling 218 on the season.

GREAT THINGS COME IN THREES UMD is tied for the NCAA's lead in hat tricks so far this season, with the team netting three of them on the year. The latest coming from Swaney (SCSU, Feb. 27, 2021), with his third goal being his 100th career point. Jackson Cates netted a natural hat trick this season against Western Michigan University (Jan. 24, 2021). Junior forward Cole Koepke scored the other hat tick, coming against Miami University (Feb. 5, 2021).

GOALS COMING AT A PREMIUM The Bulldogs are currently 12th in the NCAA when it comes to goals against per game. UMD is only giving up 2.33 goals per game, which sits just below the Army West Point's 2.18.

STARTING STRONG, STAYING STRONG The Bulldogs have produced points this year left and right. Senior forward Nick Swaney is right near the top, sitting in a T-23rd in the NCAA with 27 points (13g, 14a) on the season up to this point. His 13 goals is T-26th in the NCAA.
Junior forward Jackson Cates has been hot this year as well, racking up 27 points (11g, 16a) thus far. He is T-26th in the NCAA.

STARTING STRONG, STAYING STRONG II Sophomore goalie Ryan Fanti has had a stellar start to the season and his career thus far, sitting with 11 wins under his belt. He's been a rock-solid back stop for the Bulldogs with a .907 save percentage and a 2.36 goals against average.
Freshman goalie Zach Stejskal has been another solid option in net for the Bulldogs. In seven games this season, Stejskal has produced 225 saves, averaging 28.12 per game. He has four wins with a 1.75 goals against average and a .934 save percentage.

STARTING STRONG, STAYING STRONG III Junior forward Cole Koepke leads the team in the goals category, scoring 13 goals on the year. He also has eight assists for 21 points on the season..

STARTING STRONG, STAYING STRONG IV Senior forward Kobe Roth is the third UMD player that reached at least 13 goals on the season. He also has 10 assists on the year, good for 23 points overall.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL UMD started the strong on the special teams, and have cooled off since. The Bulldogs are currently clipping at an 19.8% (19-96) on the season. The penalty kill has been running at an 75.8% (72-96) on the season and will look to continue to improve.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL II Junior forward Jackson Cates leads the way with five power play goals on the year and seven power play assists, for 12 points on the man advantage (12th in NCAA). His brother, junior forward Noah Cates, and has three power play tallies and f assists while on the man advantage.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL III Senior forward Nick Swaney also has three power play goals on the year, with eight assists on the man advantage. His 11 power play points are tied for 16th in NCAA.
Junior forward Cole Koepke also has three power play tallies while senior forward Kobe Roth has four.

SPECIAL TEAMS ARE INDEED SPECIAL IV The Bulldogs have two shorthanded goals on the season, tied for second in the NCHC.
Senior forward Nick Swaney and junior defenseman Hunter Lellig have the two shorties on the season, with Lellig's being his first collegiate career goal.

STRONG FINISH UMD has scored 39.0 percent of its goals (32-of-82) of its team goals in the third period.

SURPASSING 400 Head Coach Scott Sandelin became just the 33rd active head coach to reach the 400 win milestone on Jan. 29, 2021 when the Bulldogs beat Miami University, 2-1. He currently owns 406 wins.

KEEPING IT 100 There are a plethora of players on this years roster that are either past, or close to breaking the 100 game mark for their careers. Senior defense men Matt Anderson (138) and Louie Roehl (141), forwards Kobe Roth (133), Nick Swaney (133), Cole Koepke (103) and Noah Cates (101) all passing the mark. Two Junior forwards Jackson Cates (95), and Tanner Laderoute (96) all have the milestone within reach.

HITTING THE CENTURY Senior forward Nick Swaney was the 59th player in Bulldog men's hockey history to reach the 100 career points milestone. He follows alum defenseman Scott Perunovich, who did it last year, and the latest forward since Alex Iafallo did it in 2016-17.
He currently sits with 100 points in his career.

BEST OF THE BEST a Pair of Bulldogs landed on the seven-man Preseason All-NCHC Team. Noah Cates and Cole Koepke were both named to the Preseason squad.
A quartet of Bulldogs landed on the All-NCHC teams this season. Senior forward Nick Swaney made it on to the All-NCHC first team this season. Junior forward Noah Cates landed on the All-NCHC second team and junior forward Cole Koepke and freshman defenseman Wyatt Kaiser each were namded as All-NCHC honorable mention. Kaiser also landed himself on the NCHC All-Rookie squad.
This season, the Bulldogs snagged six player of the week's. Sophomore goalie Ryan Fanti was the NCHC's first Goalie of the Week (Dec. 7) and has two on the year (Dec. 7 & Feb. 1). Freshman defenseman Wyatt Kaiser was named Rookie of the Week (Feb. 1), junior forward Cole Koepke was named Forward of the Week (Feb. 8) and freshman goaltender Zach Stejskal was named Goalie of the Week (Feb. 8). Senior forward Nick Swaney was the latest nominee, grabbing Forward of the Week on Feb. 27. Three players were named to the NCAA Fargo Regional All-Tournament team. Freshman goalie Zach Stejskal had an outstanding game against UND, making 57 saves in the contest. Freshman forward Luke Mylymok netted the game winner in the final, and junior defenseman Hunter Lellig had an assist and was a +2 on the night.

CAPTAIN CATES Noah Cates (5g, 13a) is stepping into the season with a 'C' on his chest. He looks to step into the roll with pride, taking over for the departed former captain Nick Wolff, who signed with the Boston Bruins. Cates returns as UMD's second top point getter, finishing last year with 33 (14g, 19a) points, and a career mark of 74 (28g, 46a) points.

'A' FOR EFFORT After a stellar sophomore season, Cole Koepke (14g, 8a) will be one of three assistant captains. He comes into his junior year with a career mark of 74 (37g, 37a) points, while finishing last year with a team second best 33 (16g, 17a) points.

'A' FOR EFFORT II Senior Louie Roehl is another will also sport the 'A' this season. Roehl looks to have another productive year for UMD, as he's been with the Bulldogs for two championships and played in 140 games. Roehl has 27 (7g, 20a) points in his career as a Bulldog and has a +32 rating for his career.

'A' FOR EFFORT III Senior Nick Swaney (13g, 14a) is the final 'A' for the team this season. Swaney is another player who has been with UMD for two championships, He has been on a slow climb in points, producing at a 0.76 points per game pace for his career. in 132 games, Swaney has put up 100 points (46g, 54a) points while sporting a solid +42 rating. He's produced eight game winners in his career with the Bulldogs.

WINNING IS OUR THING The Bulldogs' current run of six consecutive NCAA Tournament berths is the current best active streak in DI men's ice hockey

WINNING IS OUR THING II Scott Sandelin's career winning percentage in the NCAA Tournament (.786 off a 22-6 record) is the best of any active head coach (minimum eight games) and trails only the late Herb Brooks (.889 at the University of Minnesota), Vic Heyliger (.800 at the University of Michigan) and Gino Gasparini (.789 at the University of North Dakota --Sandelin's alma mater) among all NCAA head coaches.

WINNING IS OUR THING III UMD has made four straight Frozen Fours, the first time a team has accomplished the feat since UND back in 2005-08.

WINNING IS OUR THING IV The Bulldogs have won their last nine overtime games in the NCAA Tournament.

DONE BY COMMITTEE UMD has 10 different players with game winning goals and 15 different goal scores on the year.